Camera Soft on One Side - only for stills

[Chris M]

Hey, I know a few people have had camera issues where it's been soft on one side or the other... What's the prognosis? Does it have to go back?

I was one of the fortunate ones to snag a Mavic from the Apple Store the other day and the camera is clearly soft on the right side for stills only. It seems sharp for video.

Here's a comparison at 100% of the still (top) and video frame (bottom). Note how the blue "Mountain Hwy" street sign on the left (which was mid-frame of the image) is sharp while the right side turns to mush on the still photo (top) while the video frame is still sharp on the right side. Strange!

Anyone else witness this? Any ideas?

 

[John Shaw]

Looking at various items throughout the frames it looks to me like the whole still frame (upper) is not as sharp as the lower frame. Maybe just focus.

 

[Chris M]

Looking at various items throughout the frames it looks to me like the whole still frame (upper) is not as sharp as the lower frame. Maybe just focus.

If you look at the blue street sign in the upper left of each frame, it's actually sharper in the still image... and if I showed you the rest of the frame, you would see that the left side on the still is just as sharp as the video. I'm afraid it's not focus. I've tried a number of different shots refocusing for each and the stills are consistently blurry on the right side. However, if I focus on the right side of the frame, it will be sharper but then the left side is out of focus.

Here's a link to the full still image... https://flic.kr/p/N9Dj3C

 

[John Shaw]

Chris
Be sure I am just trying to be helpful (and not claiming to be right). Just letting you know what I see and hoping it might help. If I've figured out the process, a picture will be attached, where I put the two blue signs together keeping your top vs bottom. After they were together I blew them up in a single step. To me the top still is actually looks sharper but has a darker exposure. Try doing the same and see if you get the same result.

 

[Chris M]

Chris
Be sure I am just trying to be helpful (and not claiming to be right). Just letting you know what I see and hoping it might help. If I've figured out the process, a picture will be attached, where I put the two blue signs together keeping your top vs bottom. After they were together I blew them up in a single step. To me the top still is actually looks sharper but has a darker exposure. Try doing the same View attachment 1306 and see if you get the same result.

I think we're saying the same thing? The blue sign is sharper in the top (still) than the bottom (video). Which means the still image is actually sharper than the video in the center of the frame... right? While the right side of the frame is clearly softer in the top (still) than the bottom (video). Are we both seeing the same thing?

Now the darkening is due to vignetting that is present in the RAW file. I also looked at the out of camera JPEG... it's doing some lens correction for the vignetting and doesn't look dark. However, it's still softer on the right than the middle or left of the frame.

Here's the full still image... clearly not as sharp on the right side... https://flic.kr/p/N9Dj3C

 

[John Shaw]

I agree on the blue sign - my mistake. I'll have to look closer on the right.

 

[John Shaw]

Chris
I did the blue sign and windows that were near the right edge and have to say I agree with you. Sorry for the distraction.

 

[Chris M]

Chris
I did the blue sign and windows that were near the right edge and have to say I agree with you. Sorry for the distraction.
View attachment 1308

No worries. I just find it odd that the stills are blurry and the video is sharp... even if the video is only using a cropped portion of the sensor, that wouldn't explain this given the stills are 4000x3000 and the video is 3860px wide so the video frame is only cropping a few pixels off each side.

 

[Robert Mitchell]

What was the shutter speed of one vs. the other? Could it be that the still had a slower ss and there was some slight camera motion during the still exposure?

 

[Chris M]

What was the shutter speed of one vs. the other? Could it be that the still had a slower ss and there was some slight camera motion during the still exposure?

The still was taken at 1/100. I'm not sure about the video. However, it's not camera shake. It's only soft on the right side and it's consistent from shot to shot.